


Intensive Care

by Ladytalon



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bathing/Washing, Dr. Ned (cameo), Drunkenness, Established Relationship, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Nursing Kink, Pregnancy, Pregnant Sex, Timothy Lawrence (cameo), vomiting mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 23:48:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13445991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladytalon/pseuds/Ladytalon
Summary: Patricia Tannis dusts off her doctorate as Pandora's favorite doctor becomes her favorite patient.





	Intensive Care

**Author's Note:**

> Chronicling the events that take place in Fyrestone after [Chapter 30](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6038359/chapters/28546924) of [A Thrilling Game of Cat and Mouse](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6038359). Things have been rough irl, so to combat my ennui I decided to write some filth...you're welcome, I guess.

Zed figures that by now he’s old enough to realize how stupid he can be when he’s had too much to drink. This fact almost always manages to evade his recollection until he’s already done something insane, like ECHO-baiting an angry Nomad or having sex with Patricia Tannis for the first time atop an operating table.

Or, in this case, breaking his leg by falling off of the old Fyrestone water tower because Ned had dared him to climb it.

“I told you not to do it,” she says, leaning over him. He can’t see much of her face because of how massively pregnant she is but Zed can clearly see her eyes, which have narrowed in annoyance.

His brother Ned leans over, too. “That was friggin’ _awesome_. Toldja he’s pretty damn fun with a few in him, Tim.” Timothy Lawrence murmurs something about having heard all about how _fun_ Zed can be…whatever that means.

Zed closes his eyes against another wave of nausea that’s about to bring that ‘few’ right back up the way they’d gone down. “Next time I say ‘hold my drink and watch this’, would it _kill_ ya to say no? One of y’all better help me up.”

The doppelgänger leaps to his aid and, after he’s finished smirking, Ned helps out too. Patricia sighs at him and trots on ahead to make sure the path to Building 03 is clear. “You gonna hurl?” Ned asks suddenly. “I’ll beat your ass if you do it on Momma’s grave, I ain’t even kiddin’.”

“I _ain’t_ gonna-” Zed’s stomach lurches, and he presses his fist against his mouth. _Oh, no._ “I’m gonna.”

They hustle him over away from the tire-marked grave sites, and hold him at an angle so he can vomit into a slagpit. “I hope you have enough InstaHealths,” Tim says worriedly. “The last time I broke something that badly, it took at least six of them. Maybe, um, maybe we should wait to leave…?”

“He’ll be fine,” Ned scoffs. “Patty’s here with him, besides. They can throw up together, like a…a couples bondin’ activity or somethin’. It’ll be romantic.”

“You shut your trap about her,” Zed says, drawing the back of his hand over his mouth after spitting a final time. “God _damn_ , my tolerance ain’t what it used t’be.”

Ned laughs. “Once a lightweight, always a lightweight. C’mon, let’s get you delivered so we can get outta here. I’m sure Patty’ll give you a sexy sponge bath once you’re sober enough to enjoy it. Maybe she’ll even go down-”

“ _Ned_ ,” Tim interrupts, aghast. 

“What’s going on over here? You reek of sweat and vomit,” Patricia complains. “You two – bring him inside, and then go away immediately.”

Tim makes another sound of dismay as Ned continues to comment on the situation, but the pain in Zed’s leg is distracting him from any inflammatory statements that are currently being made. “I’m sorry about this,” Jack’s double whispers to him and despite his misery, Zed appreciates the kid’s empathy – he’s had one wild time ever since Ned took him to Jakob’s Cove.

“You watch yourself; don’t let him push you around,” Zed says through gritted teeth as he’s helped into the small living quarters. “Remember what I told you an’ you’ll be just fine.”

“What’d you tell him?” Ned demands.

“Told him to make sure you take a shower ‘cause you’re nasty as hell,” Zed fires back. “Y’all better get goin’ if you’re leavin’ today.”

Patricia hands him the toothbrush and cup of water she’d been scrounging for, then walks over to bid their visitors farewell. “You are a terrible person who drinks far too much, but I like you anyway,” she tells Ned, giving him a hug and moving his hand away from her ass when he tries to cop a feel. “Timothy. While you are on vacation, please keep in mind that you might find yourself in several unlikely situations where you must accommodate a generously-sized penis. Use more lubrication than you think you could ever possibly need, and hide the little bottles around-”

“ _Tricia_ ,” Zed sighs despairingly.

“Well, you are identical,” Patricia informs him as if he doesn’t already know that. “I am attempting to strengthen the bonds of friendship by exchanging personal information!”

Tim’s face is brick red by the time they leave for the Fast Travel station, but Ned certainly seems pleased with himself. At any rate, it’s a relief to have Fyrestone all to themselves again…even if Zed feels like death warmed over. “Get me a few of those syringes, honey?” He asks, covering his eyes with a hand and wondering if he can make it to the trashcan if he has to throw up again. “Bring the trash over too, please.”

Patricia squeezes his hand and moves the can over before going through to the med vendor. He hears her open the front panel, and then she makes a sound of consternation. “Zed, there are only two left.”

“What?!?” Zed lunges forward until his stomach, as well as his broken leg, tell him that he shouldn't be doing anything of the kind. He pays homage to the trashcan once more, even though there can’t be a single thing left inside his stomach but its lining, and closes his eyes. Everything seems to be spinning _way_ too fast. “Okay, well…bring ‘em over and gimme a sec. I’d better make sure the bones are set, and make a splint ‘fore I use any of those needles.”

He can hear Patricia moving around gathering supplies and opens his eyes again when she dumps everything on top of his chest. “I would advise against using any of the rusted metal that is lying around,” she tells him. “There should be a few boards that might be acceptable, out beside the bounty board…I am _not_ going to borrow anything from the funeral pyre, and neither are you.”

“Yeah, that’d be pretty gross,” Zed agrees. “Help me up, sweetheart?”

Patricia does so, and leaves him sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing at his temples. Zed curses silently as he realizes that he should’ve just asked her to help him sit up, or even help removing his pants, because now he’ll have to move around doing all that by himself. The thought brings him up short, and he has to laugh – here he is, feeling sorry that he’s by himself, when he’d never planned on being with _anyone_ …let alone becoming a _father_ at this stage of his life. 

He drops his hands to the waistband of his jeans, undoing the zipper before leaning back to work them down over his hips with the least amount of movement possible. It still feels like bandits are beating him half to death with dull buzz axes, but Zed finally manages to drop his pants on the ground before going to work on his socks. Once he’s done that, he looks down at his leg and carefully probes with his fingers – the break seems to be a clean one.

Patricia returns with several boards piled in her arms. “You might as well become completely nude since your pants have already been discarded,” she says, dumping the boards beside him.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Zed grits his teeth as he shifts his weight to reach for the top piece.

“Because I like looking at you when you have no clothes on.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

She helps distract him from his pain by sharing some gossip she’d gathered from either his brother or the body double. “Apparently Ted spent the night with Jeffrey Blake, and they had a sexual encounter.”

“Well, it stands to reason – they’re together, after all, and sometimes folks need to get physical when someone close to ‘em dies,” Zed explains. “Still don’t quite get what Ted sees in Blake, but it ain’t like I can do somethin’ about it.”

Patricia hands him the rags she’s been ripping up into strips, and helps set the splints in place. It’ll be uncomfortable, but all he’ll need to do is to keep the leg immobile for about five or six hours and then the break will have healed enough for him to walk on it. Once they return to Sanctuary, Zed will be able to access enough InstaHealths to make sure his leg is fixed permanently – two more needles should do it. “You had better make yourself as comfortable as possible,” Patricia says after he tells her all this. “I am going to read a few scientific journals aloud to you, which will likely bore you to death, so your final resting place should have blankets and pillows.”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Zed assures her. “Still, if you wouldn’t mind bringin’ that blanket over…?” She retrieves it cheerfully, and brings over a few towels for some reason. “What’re those for?”

Patricia tries to look innocent, something which always makes her look like she has severe gastrointestinal issues. “Oh, no reason.”

“If you say so,” Zed says, eyeing her suspiciously.

“They are here if you need them,” Patricia tells him after needing to think things over. She makes a gesture towards her mouth, and Zed finally relaxes – he’s not sure why she didn’t just say the towels are there in case he has to vomit again, but it _does_ make sense. They do a bit more rearranging, because when they come to Fyrestone most of their time is spent outside rather than in. Patricia is surprisingly patient with him, which he appreciates because it’s not easy to be the one being taken care of when it’s usually the other way around.

It’s warm enough in the hut for him to want to remove the rest of his clothes so she helps him with that, too…and this is Patricia he’s talking about, so of course she gets a little handsy. Zed’s not in the mood to appreciate it, unfortunately. Maybe after they get back to Sanctuary, he thinks as he tugs the blanket up around his hips. She disappears in the other room in search of something, and he carefully checks the splint once last time before uncapping the needles and injecting the dark red liquid as close to the break as he can stand. It hurts even worse once he’s done, and he’s starting to sweat as he lowers himself back onto the pillows.

“I hate that you are in pain,” Patricia says softly from the doorway. “While it _is_ your own stupidity that led to this, I do not like that you are hurting.”

Zed answers her without opening his eyes. “I’ve had worse happen to me, honey, don’t you worry none. I’ll be fine in a bit…c’mon and sit down.” He hears her approach and feels her hands, gentle and cool, brushing his hair back from his forehead. “A man could kill for a nurse sweet as you.”

“I doubt that _very_ much, Zed.”

To distract himself from the pain, Zed rolls his head towards her and opens his eyes to find her staring directly into his face. “Well, _I_ would.”

Patricia smiles, and leans over to kiss him. “You have always taken excellent care of me. It is only fitting that I should return the favor – I have dreamed of ministering to a handsome nude male who is at my mercy.”

 _Ministering_ , he thinks with a laugh. “Here I thought you were gonna science me to death.”

“Oh, I fully intend to,” she promises, scooting her chair closer and propping her ECHOpad against his ribs. “This one is about quantum mechanics…”

She starts reading, and it’s even more boring than she’d warned him it was. Zed closes his eyes and lets her voice wash over him as the medicine he’d injected himself with starts to knit his leg back together. The pain is slowly dissipating and is replaced with a pleasurable warmth as Patricia slips a hand beneath the blanket and rubs her fingers over his bare hip in slow circles. Zed sneaks a quick look at her, but she’s still intent upon her reading even as her fingers walk up and over his thigh.

He smiles and shuts his eyes again, parting his legs slightly to allow her access. She continues her calm recital, kneading his thigh muscles in a way that’s starting to make Zed feel impatient. If she’d just move her hand a bit more… “I’m not _boring_ you, am I?” Patricia asks suddenly, jarring him out of his fevered state of anticipation.

There’s nothing for it but to be as honest as he possibly can be. “No ma’am, you’d best believe you’ve got my full attention.”

She considers his reply thoughtfully, then slides her hand over just enough to make him a _very_ happy man. “Good,” Patricia says calmly, and goes back to reading her whatever-it-is while continuing to fondle him beneath the blanket. Zed wouldn’t mind getting a good look at what she’s doing to him, but figures she’d stop completely if he asked her so he keeps his peace. Her fingers seem to be examining every inch of him that belongs to her, and he couldn’t be happier to let her explore; she’s always been more adventurous if she can’t quite see what it is that she’s doing, and they’ve had some wild times in the dark.

Zed forces himself to lie quietly as Patricia wraps her hand around him, first stroking roughly and then with a touch so light that he can barely feel it. Through it all, she’s still reading aloud like she’s in a classroom somewhere. “Is that somethin’ you’re really interested in?” he has to ask.

She lifts her eyes from the screen to look at him, and her fist pumps his cock steadily. “Is _this_ something you’re interested in?” she asks sweetly.

Getting jacked off by the beautiful mother of his unborn child, or being read to while she does it? “You got the evidence right under there,” Zed tells her, gesturing to the movement of the blanket atop his lap.

Patricia gives him the dirty grin that he doesn’t see nearly often enough. “Why, yes…I do, don’t I?” She finally sets her ECHOpad aside and folds the blanket back, tilting her head to the side as she gives his dick an appraising look. “I have often wondered at the optimal number of strokes needed to make you climax, so I drew up a chart.”

It’s just like her to come out with something like this. “Yeah? Let’s see it.”

“I don’t have it _with_ me, but I can definitely tell you that the result depends upon the stimuli provided,” Patricia tells him. “For example; it takes much longer with a dry palm” she releases him just long enough to spit in her hand “rather than a wet one.”

Zed shivers with pleasure at the added lubrication, as well as the obscene squelching sound her hand is making. “What else?”

“The time it takes for you to reach orgasm is also greatly shortened if you are given any sort of visual aid,” Patricia says. She lifts her other hand up to pull down the top of her loose-fitting shirt so that Zed can see her breasts, made irresistibly full with the late stages of pregnancy. She leans over to offer them to him, and only an idiot could keep their hands to themselves; Zed immediately reaches out. “ _And_ if you can touch said visual aid.”

“They’re aidin’ me just fine,” Zed sighs, rubbing the palm of his hand over one of her nipples. Ever since she became pregnant, it’s like he just can’t keep his hands off of her. Patricia makes an appreciative noise and leans into his touch. Between that and her hand still working him steadily, Zed can feel the tension in his body start gathering to its inevitable conclusion. “Lean down here, sweetheart.”

“All of these things work well enough, but this in conjunction with oral stimulation…” She drops her head down to brush her lips over the head of his cock, and Zed’s just about done for. “Don’t move your leg,” Patricia cries out as his back arches. “Stay _still!_ ”

Easy for her to say, Zed thinks feverishly as she leans down again. “Trish, don’t…oh, _fuck_ -!” He can feel her lips wrap around his cock tightly as he comes in her mouth, spurred on by the sensation of Patricia’s tongue rubbing against him. “ _Jesus_.” Zed falls back against the pillows again, feeling like a rag that someone’s just wrung out and tossed on the floor.

His hand tangles in Patricia’s hair as he tries to urge her up, but the devil woman gives his dick one last suck before pulling off of it and looking up. Making sure he can see her lick up what bit of his finish that hadn’t already gone down her throat, the tease. “Mmm.”

“You’re just as nasty as can be,” he says admiringly.

“Thank you,” Patricia says, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “How is your leg?”

“I don’t give a damn; how’s that?”

“That will do fine,” she says.

“Did you, uh…did you really make a chart of all that, or was that just you tryin’ to get me hot?” Zed asks, watching her tuck her breasts away and smoothing her shirt (which is actually _his_ shirt; she’s always stealing his stuff) over her rounded belly. 

Patricia dabs at the corners of her mouth, as dainty as a lady in one of those ECHO dramas. “What I did not tell you is that I even cross-referenced it to match your various moods, so that I know the best way to satisfy you sexually in almost any situation.” She smiles at him in a way that he doesn’t quite trust. “Including, as your brother so helpfully suggested, during a ‘sexy sponge bath.’”

So _that’s_ why she brought so many towels out. “I hate t’break it to you, honey love, but an old man like me needs time to recharge his batteries.”

She holds up one of the empty needles. “A sponge bath wasn’t the _only_ thing that Ned suggested.”

Zed can’t deny that he’s already feeling more energized than he has any right to be, especially after Patricia’s just had her way with him. “Ain’t exactly healthy for anyone to use those things for a second round,” he feels obligated to point out. Ted had freely admitted to using the InstaHealth needles for sex even though he should have known better…and if there’s one thing Zed’s libido doesn’t need, it’s being reminded that Jeffrey Blake regularly fucks his brother. He _does_ feels relieved that she’ll have a chance to enjoy herself as much as he had, though.

She distracts him by bringing out a tub of warm water which he promptly scolds her for carrying, and then Patricia tucks several of the towels around him. Any thoughts of Ted’s weird sex life are promptly banished when she strips down to her underwear, and she laughs when she sees how avidly he’s watching her. “You just saw my breasts.”

“They’re worth lookin’ at,” Zed protests. “So’s the rest of you… _damn_ , you’re somethin’ fine.”

Patricia flushes with pleasure at the admiration Zed’s utterly incapable of hiding either on his face or further south. “Your compliments always make me feel quite nice,” she tells him, dipping a cloth into the water and slowly squeezing it out over his chest. “The rest of you makes me feel _nicer_ …is that grammatically correct?” Patricia looks puzzled for a few moments while she thinks about it. “I _think_ it is.”

She sways closer to the edge of the bed and Zed reaches out to stroke his hand up her side, which makes her shudder and break out into goosebumps. “I’ll tell you what feels nice…” he caresses the silky skin of her ass, pausing to spank her lightly. “Every li’l thing you do to me, just ‘cause you think I might like it…and I do, ‘cause you’re the one doin’ it.”

Patricia whimpers, fumbling with the cloth again as Zed slips his hand between her thighs to find her slick and eager for him. He slides his fingers past the thin strip of fabric and rubs at her labia gently, wondering if it’d be a good idea to ask her to sit on his face and let him lick her out; she’d worried that it might startle the baby, of all things, the last time he’d tried to get his mouth down there. “Oooh…” her eyes drift closed for a moment before she remembers that she’s supposed to be one teasing _him_. “I will bet that you will orgasm first,” Patricia dares him.

This is going to be no contest. “That’s the easiest bet I’ve taken in all my years – what’re the stakes?” Zed smiles and slides a finger inside her, making her gasp.

“I haven’t - _ah!_ \- thought that far ahead,” she admits, wetting her lips with her tongue.

“We’ll worry ‘bout that later, then, after I win.”

“You are _not_ going to win.”

“I guess you’d better get to work on makin’ me come, then,” Zed teases, opening his eyes wide with mock outrage when Patricia shimmies backwards just out of reach. “ _Hey_ , that ain’t fair!”

She flutters her eyelashes at him in a move that she’s surely learned from Moxxi. “Did I say that the contest was going to be a fair one?”

“You are one sexy and totally diabolical woman; come _here_.”

Patricia politely declines, and settles on the edge of the bed…still far enough away so that he can barely brush her leg with his fingertips. The washcloth goes back into the basin, and then she’s letting the warm water drip onto his stomach where it slowly trails down to dampen Zed’s pubic hair. “This is almost like the time when I tied you to my bed and used my silk robe on you.”

“I remember that,” he says in a voice rough-edged with desire. Thanks to the double dose of healing medicine coursing through his veins, his cock is already hard and leaking precome despite having been emptied down her throat just minutes ago. “You are just drivin’ me crazy, sweet thing.” Zed utters a harsh groan as Patricia wrings the cloth out directly over his groin next.

She directs the thin trickle of water over the head of his cock, bringing her other hand over to wrap her thumb and forefinger around its base. He’s still sensitive enough after his first climax to pant and growl at the gentle pressure of the water and, looking at her, Zed can tell that she knows that there’s no possible way she can lose their bet. Patricia strokes him gently, her movements aided by another trickle of water from that damned cloth…and then she nearly makes Zed swallow his own tongue in shock when she uses her fist to pull his foreskin back up to cover the head of his dick, pinching it closed and rubbing the sensitive sheath between her fingers.

“Oh, my fucking _god_ ,” he yells, torn between wanting to knock her hand away and needing her to keep going.

Patricia takes pity on him by taking her hands away so that he’s left shifting his hips and gripping fistfuls of the sheet beneath him hard enough to rip it. “I told you that you were not going to win,” she says smugly, watching him writhe around in a desperate attempt to control himself.

Zed draws in more air than he can possibly need and expels it shakily. “Uh huh.”

She rewards him for his capitulation by leaving him alone long enough to remove the damp towels and replacing them with some of the extra pillows she uses when they make love and she’s on top. Patricia slowly removes her bra and panties before climbing onto the bed and carefully settling astride his hips. “You are _not_ supposed to move,” she warns him again.

“Yes’m.”

“Don’t _ma’am_ me, either.”

“Absolutely not, Miss Tannis, wouldn’t dream of it.” Zed takes another deep breath as she fits him inside of her body and sinks down with a sigh. “Careful now, honey.”

Patricia looks down at him, those beautiful green eyes hazy with pleasure. “Mind your own business, Doctor.”

“Okay, then.” Zed leans back to enjoy her enjoying herself, watching how she bites her lip when she humps down on his cock at just the right angle. He slides his hands up her thighs, careful not to touch her stomach because he knows she doesn’t want him to do it during sex, so he caresses her breasts instead. The urgency of earlier is still there, but it’s changed into something more gentle…something both of them haven’t had enough of in their lives. He’s more used to fucking rather than lovemaking, because Pandora bred the softness out of its children long ago, but there’s a tender sweetness to be had in the way Patricia bites her lip and looks at him beneath her lashes. Or the slow kisses they share in the aftermath of loving. Or…just about anything, really. All he has to do is look, and he’ll find it embodied in the young woman who’s chosen to hitch her star to his.

She places her palms flat on his stomach, leaning forward as she rocks slowly. “Looks like you win.”

“I had better not,” Patricia warns him, slapping at his chest when he smiles at her.

Zed moves his hands to her hips and helps her slide up and down on his cock. “Try my best, honey. Kinda tough when you’re lookin’ like that and feelin’ even better.”

“ _This_ is what feels good,” she murmurs, grinding her hips against his. “ _Zed_ …”

Conversation is discarded in favor of pleasure, and they move faster in search of their mutual goal. Patricia has to stop momentarily to tuck the pillows back beneath her knees, but then their shared Fyrestone bedroom is filled with the desperate sounds of a couple nearing completion. “Ah, god – just…just a bit more; _yes_ , there-!”

There’s nothing sweet or gentle about her now, and Zed couldn’t care less. She’s like a wild thing, demanding satisfaction from him as she claims his body over and over again, and it’s his job to make sure that she gets it. Zed rubs at her clit as Patricia takes him deep and clenches hard. She screams his name and clamps her hand over his to make sure he doesn’t stop stimulating her – as if he would – so all she needs is a few good rubs before she falls apart and he allows himself to join her. His hips surge upwards and he feels a painful twinge in his injured leg, but he’ll worry about that later because she’s coming and that means he can stop holding back.

Patricia shudders and cries out, straining against his body as she rides him into climax. Zed arches his back in total surrender to the pleasure that claims him as fully as she had, thinking of nothing but her. She’s still shivering and vocalizing little whimpers as his hands fall away from her skin. “You’re gonna kill me one’a these days, Trish,” he mumbles, suddenly so tired that it’s an effort just to open his eyes enough to look up at her.

“Don’t be so dramatic, you silly man.” Patricia slowly starts trying to move earlier than Zed thinks advisable, but he supposes that her hips have started to ache again so he’d better help out. He forces his eyes open all the way, and attempts to provide the assistance she needs, but she realizes that he’s burned through the false energy given to him by the InstaHealth injections. “I can do this myself, so lie still,” Patricia orders, carefully moving herself over so that she’s straddling only one of his legs instead of both of them. “Must you be so _wide_?”

“Sorry, hon,” he says tiredly.

“Be quiet and go to sleep.” Patricia manages to roll onto her side, her stomach pressing heavily against him, and then she wriggles around enough to shake the bed from side to side…with this and what they’ve just finished doing, Zed expects the whole thing to come crashing to the floor. Hopefully it will wait until after he’s had a nap. “You moved your leg, didn’t you?”

“Maybe…?”

“Zed _Blanco!_ ”

“How’m I s’posed to avoid it, I ask you? You’re out here lookin’ all kinds of good, and you tell me I’m meant to just lie back like I’ve been dead for the past week,” Zed complains. “With all that, I sure hope I didn’t knock you up or somethin’.”

“Very funny.” Patricia snuggles up to him all the same, and lets him touch her belly so that he can feel their child kick. “Despite all the scientific evidence to the contrary, I _still_ think-”

“We didn’t scare nobody. Leastaways, _I_ didn’t; _you_ , on the other hand…”

He can’t exactly see it because he’s too exhausted to move, but Zed can certainly _feel_ the heat that her glare is giving off. Like a laser weapon imported from Elpis. When it becomes clear that he’s not going to turn his head and look at her, thus formally receiving the nonverbal rebuke, Patricia sighs gustily. “You are lucky that I love you.”

Now _this_ he can work with. “I sure am, sweetheart, I think about that every single day.”

“Oh,” Patricia says, sounding flattered. “Well.”

“I love you, too.” Better to cover all the bases before he runs afoul of her again; and it _will_ happen because there's no fool like an old fool. She stretches up to give his jaw a kiss, and Zed just has to open his mouth one last time. "Maybe I should fall off stuff more often, if this's what I get from it…"

Patricia reaches a hand up to smack him. "Go to _sleep_."


End file.
